Contending that Bangladesh was "hurt" over the Teesta dispute, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would have shared water from the river with the "friendly" neighbour had the situation been favourable.
"They (Bangladesis) are hurt because we could not share with them Teesta waters... If I had the ability, I would have definitely shared Teesta waters with them... I've no problem... Bangladesh is our friend... no doubt about that.
"Jyoti Basu (when he was the CM) had also shared waters from the Farakka barrage with Bangladesh," Banerjee said while speaking at the Assembly here.
The Teesta water-sharing deal was set to be signed during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011, but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by Banerjee.
The chief minister had been opposed to Teesta water-sharing pact with Bangladesh, maintaining that people in her region would "not get a single drop".
"Teesta is drying up. If we ...